6 July 2017, UPDATE

President Klaus Iohannis attended the Three Seas Initiative summit in Warsaw.

Newsroom, 06.07.2017, 19:34

Three Seas Summit. Romania will host in 2018 the Three Seas
Initiative Summit, official sources said in Warsaw. In an address in the Polish
capital, president Klaus Iohannis gave assurances that Bucharest would continue
to be an active supporter of the Transatlantic relationship, which he said was
vital, being the backbone of western civilisation. Iohannis also said the
presence of US president Donald Trump in Warsaw demonstrates Washington’s
commitments to the security and prosperity of the entire Europe. The Romanian
president was among 12 Central and East-European leaders meeting in Warsaw to
discuss economic and security issues in the presence of president Trump. The
Three Seas Initiative seeks the economic interconnection of the countries
bordering the Adriatic, Baltic and Black Seas, so that the countries on the
eastern borders of NATO and the EU feel safer in the face of Russia’s
threats.

Government. The leader of the Social Democratic Party, the senior partner
in the ruling coalition in Romania, said on Thursday the coalition would hold a
meeting on Monday to assess the first week in office of the new government and establish
the timetable for the following period. The meeting will be attended by prime
minister Mihai Tudose and some of his cabinet members. In another move also on
Thursday, the main opposition party, the National Liberal Party, said it was
considering initiating a no-confidence vote against the new government unless
the latter gives up on plans to introduce the turnover tax and the so-called
solidarity tax. The new government was approved by Parliament on the 29th
of June, following a no-confidence vote against the former cabinet led by the
Social Democrat Sorin Grindeanu and initiated by the ruling coalition itself.

EU-Turkey. The
European Parliament on Thursday called for Turkey’s EU accession talks to be
suspended if Ankara implements the constitutional reform approved by referendum
in April. The position of the European Parliament, which has limited influence
in the matter, was rejected by the Turkish minister for European affairs Omer
Celik, who said the vote in Strasbourg was invalid. The constitutional reform
proposed by president Recep Tayyip Erdogan would see his powers expand
considerably, something he considers necessary to ensure the country’s
stability. Human rights organisations and opposition parties in Turkey say,
however, that the reforms are a threat to the independence of the judiciary and
would concentrate the whole power in the hands of one person. The European
Union has expressed concern, while the authorities in Ankara have rejected the
criticism.

Parliamentary inquiry. The chief prosecutor of the
National Anticorruption Directorate Laura Codruta Kovesi has been invited to
appear at the beginning of next week before the parliamentary committee
investigating the presidential elections of 2009. The committee’s chairwoman,
Oana Florea, said a criminal complaint would be filed against Kovesi if she
refuses to appear. This is the third time that Kovesi, who was serving as
Prosecutor General in 2009, has been invited to appear before the committee.
She justified her refusal to attend citing the decisions of the Superior
Council of Magistracy and the Constitutional Court of Romania. The committee
continues its inquiry despite the fact that the Prosecutor General’s Office
recently closed the case into the 2009 elections. Both inquiries began
following revelations by a controversial journalist who claims that the
presidential elections were influenced by high-ranking state officials. The
elections were won by the right-wing candidate Traian Basescu, who defeated the
Social Democrat Mircea Geoana.

Wimbledon. The Romanian tennis player Sorana
Cirstea has qualified for the third round at Wimbledon, after her opponent, the
American player Bethanie Mattek-Sands retired with an injury at the start of
the decisive set. World no. 2 Simona Halep of Romania also reached the third
round, where she faces the Chinese player Shuai Peng. Two other Romanian
players, Ana Bogdan and Irina Begu, were eliminated in the second round. Bogdan
lost to France’s Caroline Garcia, while Begu lost to Croatia’s Ana Konjuh.